Portland Rides The Rails Of Success On Electric Cars Instead Of Freeway

November 12, 1985|By Marilyn Weeks, Staff Writer

PORTLAND, ORE. — The $300 million for the new freeway was in the bank when a few skeptics decided the area could not afford to build it.

Interchanges would cost the city 5 percent of its housing, split close-knit old neighborhoods and gobble up vacant land in wooded perimeters.

Increased traffic would tax a lush, scenic environment already marred by air pollution, and encourage urban sprawl at the expense of the downtown business district.

``Where we were going was not where we should be headed, and we had to start on another course,`` recalled Don Clark, a former county commissioner and one of the leaders of the fight to dump the Mount Hood freeway. ``We wanted to protect the quality of life, and we couldn`t do it unless we changed the auto- dominated sprawl.

``It came down to something grander -- a different vision.``

The fight to sell this vision was waged in government halls, at community gatherings, and in the courts for half a decade. City, county and regional planning officials stood firm and eventually prevailed against pro-freeway forces that included organized labor, chambers of commerce, the state transportation agency and suburban neighborhoods.

In 1974, the governor asked the federal government to transfer the $300 million to mass transit, officially sidetracking the freeway in favor of a 15- mile light-rail system scheduled to open on Labor Day 1986.

In a city where mass transit already has made a difference, the project is another major effort to preserve the picture-postcard ambience that has helped Portland attract high-tech businesses and new residents to an area once known for lumber and farming.

A space-age descendant of the old streetcars that looped the city until the 1950s, each sleek, electric rail car can carry up to 166 passengers from the eastern suburb of Gresham to downtown Portland in about 45 minutes.

The four-year project, which also includes widening a four-mile strip of the old Banfield Freeway, now is 80 percent complete. And Tri-Met, the metropolitan transit authority, has launched a full-scale campaign to sell the 1.3 million residents of the four-county metropolitan area on the rail system.

One of their best arguments is the track record of the area`s 600 buses, which cover 1,000 square miles in a route system anchored by the 22-block downtown Transit Mall. Described by one transit expert as a giant outdoor bus terminal, the mall was created by closing Fifth and Sixth Streets to automobile traffic.

Twin, 11-block-long corridors for ``Buses Only`` are bordered by sidewalks set in geometric patterns of red brick. Shade trees tower over glass-domed shelters where riders can check route maps and airport-style television screens for schedules.

The mall, completed in 1978 is one of the main reasons the area:

(BU) Attracted $300 million in private development to the downtown area.

(BU) Maintained the number of car trips into center city at the same level as 1972 while the number of jobs jumped from 56,000 to 84,000.

(BU) More than doubled the number of downtown employees arriving by bus from 20 to 48 percent in a decade.

(BU) Slashed the number of days the city`s air pollution was in the unhealthy range from 89 days in 1973 to three in 1984.

``There`s a real sense that we have a unique place and that we want to keep it that way. If you really believe that, you have to change your habits,`` said Margaret Strahan, a Portland resident since 1973 who was elected to the City Council five years ago.

``It`s not so much a question of getting people out of their cars, but to keep the car count constant, and put the new trips on the bus,`` explained Strahan. ``We`ve been very successful at that.``

According to Tri-Met officials, at least two additional freeway lanes and six new parking garages would be needed without the 125,000 daily bus trips.

But the gains have not come cheaply. Fares cover only 25 percent of Tri-Met`s operating costs, which total about $64 million this year. A tax on business payrolls subsidizes 64 percent of the budget, while state and federal grants and advertising revenues cover the balance.

The budget will jump to an estimated $71 million next year when the rail system goes into operation.

With the stakes so high, mass-transit ridership has not been left to chance. Tri-Met has aimed its kick-the-car campaign at the wallets of the commuters and shoppers, with rewards for transit riders and penalities for motorists.

Parking spaces in the downtown area are limited and expensive. Many of the 3,760 meters offer only 15-minute parking. But car-poolers receive discounts on all-day rates in the garages built to replace spaces lost to the transit mall.

The county buys monthly transit passes for government and Port of Portland employees, and senior citizens can buy unlimited rides for $6 a month.

All monthly pass holders are eligible for a special program called ``Pass Plus`` which offers discounts on everything from cakes to country cabins.